Starbucks (SBUX) and other coffee companies need to carry a cancer warning, a Los Angeles judge has ruled. The decision comes after a nonprofit group had sued coffee roasters, distributors and retailers under a state law that requires warnings on a wide range of chemicals that can cause cancer.
One of the chemicals is acrylamide, a carcinogen present in coffee. The coffee industry had claimed the chemical was present at harmless levels and should be exempt from the law because it results naturally from the cooking process to make the beans flavorful.
But Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said in a proposed decision Wednesday that the companies failed to show that the threat was insignificant.
Proposed California judicial decisions can be reversed but are reversed rarely.
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